The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel by the British author H.G. Wells. It describes the invasion and colonization of Earth by aliens from the planet Mars. The novel has been adapted numerous times, the best known adaptations including a 1953 movie directed by George Pal. The most infamous adaptation remains the radio version, directed by Orson Welles, which was conceived as a Halloween entertainment and first broadcast on October 30, 1938. The first sixty minutes of the drama were presented as a live news broadcast. Many listeners believed that they were hearing genuine news of an alien invasion and panic ensued. Plot of the novel The novel takes place in London and surrounding areas of southern England in the late 19th century. The main character and narrator is an unnamed man who is knowledgeable about science and philosophy. Very little background information is given about the narrator. He has a wife and a brother who are also unnamed, as are most other characters in the novel. The War of the Worlds is divided into two parts; Book One: The Coming of the Martians and Book Two: The Earth under the Martians. At the beginning of the novel, explosions are observed on the planet Mars which cause great interest in the scientific community. An object, originally thought to be a meteor, lands in a wooded area near the narrator's home in Woking, Surrey, southwest of London. The narrator notices that it is not a meteor but a synthetic cylinder. The cylinder opens and some Martians emerge. The Martians are roughly the same size as bears, have greyish-brown skin, large dark eyes, V-shaped mouths without lips and many tentacles. They quickly find out that Earth's atmosphere is not suitable for them and go back inside the cylinder. A group of people carrying a white flag of truce approach the craft but the Martians quickly burn them to death with a heat ray. The narrator makes sure that his wife gets away to safety in the nearby town of Leatherhead. When he returns, he finds that the Martians have assembled tripods, fighting machines equiped with heat rays and a chemical weapon called "black smoke". The tripods completely destroy army units that have gathered near the Martians' landing site and head towards London. The narrator learns from a retreating soldier that another cylinder has landed between Woking and Leatherhead, cutting the narrator off from his wife. More cylinders land across the south of England and people flee London, including the narrator's brother who manages to escape to safety in continental Europe. All organized resistance to the invasion stops and Martian tripods roam freely across the country. A Martian plant called the "red weed" begins to grow in all areas with sufficient water. At the beginning of the second part of the novel, the narrator and a clergyman are in hiding inside a ruined house. When another Martian cylinder lands near the house, the two men are forced to stay inside it for two weeks. The clergyman believes that the Martians are bringing about the end of the world as predicted in the Book of Revelations and begins to rant loudly about it. The narrator eventually knocks the clergyman unconscious but not before he has been heard by the Martians. A tentacle drags the clergyman away and the Martians apparently feed on his blood. The narrator manages to escape by hiding in the house's coal cellar. When the Martians finally leave the area, the narrator heads for the center of London. He meets up again with the soldier whom he encountered earlier. The soldier speaks of his grand plans for rebuilding human civilization underground. The narrator eventually realises that the soldier is deluded and will never do anything to make his grand schemes reality. The narrator loses all hope and accepts that he will fall victim to the Martians. He then discovers that all the Martian invaders are dead. There are no bacteria on Mars and the Martians were unaware that they existed on Earth. The Martians all died of diseases for which they had no immunity. The narrator and his wife, who he had given up for dead, are reunited but life does not completely return to normal for him. The experience of the Martian invasion leaves the narrator feeling very troubled and insecure. 1938 radio drama The Halloween episode of the CBS radio series Mercury Theatre on the Air, broadcast on October 30, 1938, was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. The program was directed by Orson Welles. The script was written by Howard Koch and Anne Froelick with some contributions from Welles and other members of the cast. The action is moved from 19th century England to New Jersey and New York in the year 1939, one year in the future at the time that the program was initially broadcast. The first two thirds of the program are presented in the form of a live news brodacast. Many listeners, who had not heard the anouncement at the beginning of the program that it was a fiction, believed that they were hearing genuine news of an alien invasion. Plot The program begins with an explanation that what listeners are about to hear is a drama set in the year 1939. There is an introduction, taken from Wells' novel, which describes the Martians observing Earth and planning their invasion. A weather forecast is followed by a program of dance music from Ramon Raquello and his Orchestra. The program is interrupted by a newsflash about explosions observed on Mars. The astronomer Professor Richard Pierson (played by Orson Welles) is questioned about them. He dismisses the possibility of life on Mars. Interruptions to the program become more frequent. It is reported that a cylindrical meteorite has landed in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Reporter Carl Phillips describes the scene as the meteorite is revealed to be an alien craft, a tentacled Martian briefly being seen inside it. Phillips' commentary continues as the Martians use a heat ray to burn to death the crowd that has gathered around the craft. He is cut off in mid sentence. The dance music program is abandonned and news reports become constant. Richard Pierson speculates about the Martians' advanced technology. The New Jersey state militia declare martial law and begin an offensive against the Martians. They are confident that the Martians will not be able to cope with Earth's gravity. A tripod war machine then emerges from the crater that was formed when the craft landed and completely wipes out the militia. Back at the studio, the radio announcer describes the Martians as an invading army. It is reported that the Martian tripods have destroyed power stations, bridges and railroads and another Martian cylinder has landed. Evacuation instructions are given and the Secretary of the Interior addresses the nation. Soldiers are interviewed who say that they managed to damage one tripod but "black smoke' emerged from it. The soldiers begin to cough more and more frequently and the interview fades out. A pilot describes his approach to one of the Martian tripods. He continues to talk as his plane is hit by a heat ray and he dives onto the tripod. From the top of the CBS building in New York City, a reporter describes the scene as five Martian tripods wade across the Hudson River. The reporter says that he can see people jumping into the East River and that the air is thick with "black smoke". The reporter succumbs to the poisonous smoke himself. The voice of a ham radio operator is heard saying, "Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there ... anyone?" After an intermission, during which listeners are reminded once again that the program is a fictional drama, the play resumes in the form of a monologue by Professor Pierson. The professor describes the events following the Martian invasion and how all the Martians eventually died as a result of diseases, having no immunity to Earth's bacteria. Orson Welles then breaks character and reminds listeners that what they have heard was nothing more than a Halloween entertainmemt, calling it the radio equivalent of "dressing up in a sheet, jumping out of a bush and saying, 'Boo!'" Public response and aftermath In the month following the broadcast of Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds, there were more than twelve thousand newspaper stories about people who had mistaken the radio drama for news of an alien invasion. Mercury Theatre on the Air was an unsponsored program which was not required to have commercial breaks at regular intervals, meaning that the "news bulletin" style The War of the Worlds could continue uninterrupted. The only anouncements that the program was a fiction came at the start and fifty-five minutes into it. A popular variety show was being broadcast on NBC at the same time. The report of the Martian cylinder landing in New Jersey came twelve minutes into NBC's variety show, a point at which the show switched from comedy to music and when many listeners would be searching for something else to listen to on their radios. Consequently, many listeners began hearing Welles' drama from that point. By coincidence, the town of Concrete, Washington experienced a power cut at the time that the program was being broadcast, meaning that the panic of the town's residents was added to because they could not telephone their family and friends. It is known that many people telephoned their local CBS radio station, the newspapers and the police while the program was being transmitted but there are few reliable reports about people taking other actions in the face of a Martian invasion. It is likely that some newspaper accounts were deliberately exagerated, newspapers at the time considering the new medium of radio to be a threat to them, in order to get across to readers how dangerous radio could be. Many people tried to sue CBS for stress and personal injury that they suffered as a result of the program. All the suits were dismissed. A Massachusetts man asked CBS to reimburse the money that he had intended to spend on shoes but spent instead on trying to escape from the Martians. Orson Welles himself insisted that the man be paid. As a result of the controversy caused by the program, CBS decided not to use the phrase, "We interrupt this program ... " for dramatic effect again. Commercial breaks and sponsorship were introduced to Mercury Theatre on the Air. The series name was changed to Campbell Playhouse when the Campbell Soup Company became its sponsor. See also *The Invisible Man - another creation of H.G. Wells *''Ghostwatch'' a 1992 BBC TV drama which was mistaken for a live broadcast by many viewers *''The Simpsons'': Treehouse of Horror XVII which spoofs the panic caused by Orson Welles' 1938 The War of the Worlds in the segment "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid" External links *[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds Text of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds on Wikisource.] *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534 The War of the Worlds (1953)] and [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407304 The War of the Worlds (2005)] on the Internet Movie Database. *[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1023137-war_of_the_worlds The War of the Worlds (1953)] and [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_of_the_worlds The War of the Worlds (2005)] on Rotten Tomatoes. *[http://www.allmovie.com/movie/war-of-the-worlds-v53372 The War of the Worlds (1953)] and [http://www.allmovie.com/movie/war-of-the-worlds-v312948 The War of the Worlds (2005)] on AllRovi. Category:Books Category:Movies Category:Radio